An Affordable Web Hosting Primer
Not all web hosting plans are created equal. How do you find an affordable web hosting plan that will meet your needs and still be economical? There are several issues that you’ll want to consider.
Price is always an issue. If you’re just getting your site up and running, you don’t have extra capital to spend on web hosting, so you’ll want the most bang for your buck. Look at several providers and compare characteristics.
What kinds of traffic allowances do the affordable web hosting plans you’re considering offer? Some of the most affordable plans have more generous allowances than higher priced plans, and some have less. Make sure that you choose a plan that will allow your site’s traffic to grow. Don’t box yourself into an upgrade the minute your traffic starts to pick up. There are plenty of web hosting sites out there that will allow moderate traffic with no additional cost.
What kind of disk space do they have available? Don’t tie yourself to a plan that won’t support the volume you hope to do. Compare the statistics. Many affordable web hosting plans have plenty of capacity and don’t cost too much.
What is their service record? Are they down a lot, or infrequently? This is a major consideration, because nothing discourages traffic more than “this page is currently unavailable.” That message means lost traffic. Of course, every web host needs maintenance time, so expect some time offline, but compare outage records.
You’ll want to be able to review your traffic statistics. Choose a web hosting provider that has a meaningful traffic statistic reporting feature. You need this information to target your advertising and analyze your traffic to keep your site growing. Many of the most affordable plans have simple to use, effective statistical programs that will provide almost every user the information they need to effectively manage their site.
There are many other features that you may be interested in. Many web hosting sites, including the affordable, low cost choices, offer domain name registration and renewal as part of their service. This eliminates one more step from your responsibilities. If they offer it, take advantage of it!
There are many outstanding affordable web hosting companies on the internet. One of the most highly rated is HostGator.com. For a modest fee of $9.95 per month, you not only receive reliable service and a 30 day money back guarantee, but you’ll be able to host unlimited sites for this price. They also have a program called SiteStudio that helps you set up your website without HTML or FTP.
Even more exciting, there is not setup fee.
Another popular choice is StartLogic.com. They offer several plans that vary in price depending on the length of the plan you choose. Plans start at $6.50-$12.50 per month. They include a marketing guides manual with each plan to help you get started promoting your site. Although they are one of the newer providers, they are growing rapidly on word of mouth, reliability and great customer service.
Of course, there are many other choices out there when you’re looking for affordable web hosting services. Compare plans and remember to consider your site’s growth when you’re choosing a provider. Remember, you’re only there to increase your traffic, so be sure that your affordable web hosting plan can handle it!
Jay Moncliff is the founder of http://www.ofertashosting2005.com a website specialized on Web Hosting, resources and articles. This site provides updated information on Web Hosting. For more info visit his site: Web Hosting
Why Cheap Dedicated Servers Are Not THAT Inexpensive
Many web hosting businesses these days tend to use the cruel strategy of attracting customers to their dedicated servers by offering what appears to be a very low and virtually unbeatable price.
However many clients soon end up with a string of nasty surprises when they realize that there are many other necessities, obviously not included in the low price, that they require for the smooth and efficient running of their dedicated servers. The result is that a client who signs the dotted line quickly finds out that what they have done is to actually tie themselves down to a rather expensive dedicated server solution. Their total bill runs sky high when they finally finish paying for all the other stuff, without which the dedicated server service will not run.
So before you commit yourself to that low price dedicated server, here are a few things you should take a closer look at.
One of the most common tricks is to give you hardware configuration and specifications that are inadequate and will require an upgrade to run your dedicated server. For example you can get offered an Intel Pentium 4 server that only has 256 MB of RAM. When you realize this later, you will find that the web host has priced the necessary upgrades on the high side.
Then there is the control panel issue. One can hardly run a dedicated server without a control panel. You will definitely require it for yourself and for the clients whom you will resell hosting services to. In most cases you will find that the license fee for this control panel will not be included in your low priced dedicated server offer. Different hosts have their different prices for the same control panels. For instance the Cpanel license will cost you $15/m at one host and a staggering $50/m at another.
The backup solution is yet another nasty surprise that most folks purchasing cheap dedicated servers soon encounter. Cheap hosts will tend to do one of two things. Either tie you to a high cost per GB back up solution or alternatively offer backup in volume slabs that you will hardly require, especially as a start-up enterprise. You will need to know what your back-up options are before you go for the low cost dedicated server you have in mind.
It would also be prudent for you to find out, before committing yourself, what your web host charges per hour for emergency system administration tasks and other technical services. It is impossible to run a dedicated server without adequate technical support and services and this is therefore a very crucial issue to settle long before you make your move.
Then there are the many small but important details that will enable you to quickly understand what folks usually mean when they say that you will often get exactly what you pay for. Some of these factors can end up being very expensive to you in more ways than one. For instance how will your web host react when there is hardware failure or serious network connection issues? This is a critical question because you can easily lose lots of potential clients gained at great cost, if your server goes down for more than a few hours.
In fact the key to your success revolves around the back-up technical service behind your dedicated server.
These are the issues you really need top look at closely before considering a low cost supplier for your dedicated server.
Sabir Rizvi is a seasoned IT professional who writes for Hosting Reviews, an informative guide for hosting buyers. Visit the website to read more of his expert articles and reviews at http://hosting.alwaiz-arts.com
Why Cheap Dedicated Servers Are Not THAT Inexpensive
Many web hosting businesses these days tend to use the cruel strategy of attracting customers to their dedicated servers by offering what appears to be a very low and virtually unbeatable price.
However many clients soon end up with a string of nasty surprises when they realize that there are many other necessities, obviously not included in the low price, that they require for the smooth and efficient running of their dedicated servers. The result is that a client who signs the dotted line quickly finds out that what they have done is to actually tie themselves down to a rather expensive dedicated server solution. Their total bill runs sky high when they finally finish paying for all the other stuff, without which the dedicated server service will not run.
So before you commit yourself to that low price dedicated server, here are a few things you should take a closer look at.
One of the most common tricks is to give you hardware configuration and specifications that are inadequate and will require an upgrade to run your dedicated server. For example you can get offered an Intel Pentium 4 server that only has 256 MB of RAM. When you realize this later, you will find that the web host has priced the necessary upgrades on the high side.
Then there is the control panel issue. One can hardly run a dedicated server without a control panel. You will definitely require it for yourself and for the clients whom you will resell hosting services to. In most cases you will find that the license fee for this control panel will not be included in your low priced dedicated server offer. Different hosts have their different prices for the same control panels. For instance the Cpanel license will cost you $15/m at one host and a staggering $50/m at another.
The backup solution is yet another nasty surprise that most folks purchasing cheap dedicated servers soon encounter. Cheap hosts will tend to do one of two things. Either tie you to a high cost per GB back up solution or alternatively offer backup in volume slabs that you will hardly require, especially as a start-up enterprise. You will need to know what your back-up options are before you go for the low cost dedicated server you have in mind.
It would also be prudent for you to find out, before committing yourself, what your web host charges per hour for emergency system administration tasks and other technical services. It is impossible to run a dedicated server without adequate technical support and services and this is therefore a very crucial issue to settle long before you make your move.
Then there are the many small but important details that will enable you to quickly understand what folks usually mean when they say that you will often get exactly what you pay for. Some of these factors can end up being very expensive to you in more ways than one. For instance how will your web host react when there is hardware failure or serious network connection issues? This is a critical question because you can easily lose lots of potential clients gained at great cost, if your server goes down for more than a few hours.
In fact the key to your success revolves around the back-up technical service behind your dedicated server.
These are the issues you really need top look at closely before considering a low cost supplier for your dedicated server.
Sabir Rizvi is a seasoned IT professional who writes for Hosting Reviews, an informative guide for hosting buyers. Visit the website to read more of his expert articles and reviews at http://hosting.alwaiz-arts.com
Why Free Web Hosting May not be a Bad Thing
There is paid web hosting and there is free web hosting. Most people tend to steer clear of free web hosting as they tend to believe that “there is no free lunch”. Free web hosting must have its catches?
Well, that really depends on your purposes and your position.
Why purpose?
If your web hosting is for your website which is for commercial purposes, such as an ecommerce web-store, you need absolute reliability and uptime. Every second of downtime is lost revenue. While some free web hosting providers guarantee uptime, you cannot hold it against them if their services do not meet expectations and cause your business to lose hundreds of dollars of revenue. Why? Because most free web hosts will have a clause in their terms that state that they do not guarantee uptime at all because they are a free service. Now, most free hosts will not even guarantee any uptime and those free web hosting services are provided on a best effort basis. You cannot risk hosting your crucial business website on such a free hosting plan.
However, for most individuals who are experimenting with building websites, free web hosting is the ideal choice as there is no monetary commitment and no lost for both parties. Everyone deserves a chance to learn and what better way to learn than to do it? Free web hosting plans from free hosts are the ideal platform for aspiring webmasters to start their web-building careers. Of course these free hosts may require something in return: visiting sponsors, displaying ads on hosted pages, reading emails, and lately, participating in online communities of the free web-host. This last option may not be a bad thing as online communities allow the users to interact and learn from each other.
There is also a last category of users who just want free web hosting for a personal site which they do not find the need to be up all the time and do not see the need to pay for it and do not see the need to do anything for it. There are some free web hosts out there who offer free hosting for nothing – just a simple sign up. Therefore, a clear purpose for using free web hosting is important. If the purpose is critical and there is no tolerance for problems, then free webhosting is not suitable. Other than that, free web hosting is not a bad thing.
Why position?
Web hosting plans are relatively affordable these days (some plans as low as $1 a month) that almost any working person can afford it for their websites. Therefore, paying for web hosting should not be a problem for those who have an income, or some savings to spend on developing their websites further. Also, any working adult should be able to afford using a Paypal account that most web hosts will accept as a form of payment. On the other hand, students and young people do not have much to spend, much less a Paypal or Credit Card with which to pay for hosting. For this group of people, free web hosting plans are the obvious alternatives if they wish to set up websites without paying anything for them.
To conclude, free web hosting may not be a bad thing for selected groups of people who have a specific purpose. For students and people looking to learn about developing websites, free web hosting is a good thing.
Dax Christopher maintains a two year old webmaster community at http://www.Buildtolearn.com, a forum community that provides free web hosting to members discusses web-hosting and webmaster related issues such as web-design, page coding, SEO and many others.
Choosing a Web Hosting Company
Web hosting is a big business on the internet nowadays…so big, in fact, that it can be difficult to choose from amongst the myriad of options.
How do you know you’re going to get reliable service and customer support at reasonable prices? And how do you compare what one company offers versus another?
A web hosting review site can help you sift through the multiple options by showing you the good, the bad and the ugly of web hosts. A good review site like http://www.hosting-review.com basically does the homework for you – you can compare prices and packages easily in one place, as well as read detailed information about various web hosts, as written by webmasters who have both user experience and customer feedback on the different hosting companies.
Still not sure what to do? Let’s go through some of the different criteria you should consider when evaluating the best web host for your needs:
Space & Bandwidth
Your needs for space and bandwidth will depend on how large and/or graphics-heavy your site is, as well as your expected volume of traffic. Most plans typically offer at least 50 MB. However, make sure that you are not going to get charged extra for features such as mail, system programs, and other elements of your web site as these may or may not be included in disk space limit provided. The same goes for bandwidth – 500 MB is typical for many average-sized sites, but you may need more or substantially less.
Price
How much does the hosting package cost? (remember, the lowest price is not necessarily the way to go here). Is payment monthly or annual? Is a contract required? Some hosting companies offer substantial discounts when you sign up for a multi-year contract. What price implications are there if you go over your bandwidth limit? Read the fine print!
Scalability
If you run out of space or use up all your bandwidth and need to upgrade to a more robust package, what are the implications? Are you able to upgrade packages easily if required?
Technical Support
What types of help are offered, what are support hours, and is support free? You’d be surprised – web hosts range from offering virtually no support all the way up to free phone, fax, email and chat support 24 hours, 7 days a week. Also, beware that some hosts charge for certain types of support. This is more info you’ll get from those hosting reviews.
Domain Registration
Does the web host supply domain registration services or must you register your domain yourself? How portable is your domain name? You will want to be able to take it with you if you ever change hosting providers.
Additional Services
What additional services are offered with your package? This can include free scripts, web traffic statistics tools, shopping carts, design help, and many other features and functions. Many of these can be very useful and are worth checking out. On the flip side, try not to pay for what you won’t use.
Speed & Uptime
Above all, you want a reliable site that does not bog down or go down. It is a nightmare to have visitors leave your site because it is not working or it is so slow that they lose interest. A good web host will have an uptime guarantee and will notify you of any scheduled downtime.
Email Addresses
Ensure that your chosen web host package gives you enough email addresses for your needs. Remember, too, that if you’re a one-man show, it can’t hurt to have multiple email addresses (eg. sales@mysite .com, customerservice@mysite .com, etc) – even if they all go to your inbox, you look like a bigger company, which can add to your credibility.
Choosing that hosting company can be time-consuming and complicated, so use hosting reviews to your advantage – after all, these are webmasters who have used different hosts themselves!
Hosting-Review.com is an independent source for finding the best web host to match your needs. Find out the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to web hosts. Our professional webmasters regularly review web hosting companies and their packages to help make your web hosting choice easy!